Jun 11, 2020

Accessible, Inclusive Wine Tourism at Bodegas Valdemar and Villa Lucía

Villa Lucia Museum in Laguardia, in partnership with Bodegas Valdemar, located in Oyón-Oion in Rioja Alavesa, have collaborated to develop an extensive all-inclusive tourism program that enables consumers to visit wineries and museums without any visual, auditory or physical limitations. Throughout the properties and without the need for prior appointments, people with disabilities can learn about wine and wine production and enjoy an integrated experience.

This effort recently earned them a 2020 International Best Of Wine Tourism award.

Villa Lucia Museum in Laguardia, in partnership with Bodegas Valdemar, located in Oyón-Oion in Rioja Alavesa, have collaborated to develop an extensive all-inclusive tourism program that enables consumers to visit wineries and museums without any visual, auditory or physical limitations. Throughout the properties and without the need for prior appointments, people with disabilities can learn about wine and wine production and enjoy an integrated experience.

This effort recently earned them a 2020 International Best Of Wine Tourism award.

The process of adaptation of Bodegas Valdemar and the museum at Villa Lucía for the disability community was supervised by Equalitas Vitae, a company specializing in adapted tourism throughout the world.

Both properties feature unrestricted access for wheelchair users, Braille, sign language and subtitles, panels and posters with high contrast and QR codes for the explanation of wines, the winemaking process and wine tasting.

Villa Lucía has renamed its museum project “Villa Lucía with the Five Senses”. It has adapted its international award-winning 4D short film “En tierra de sueños” (In Dreamland) for wine lovers with disabilities. The museum features stations adapted for wheelchair users and numerous panels allowing persons with visual impairment to touch the items displayed and read about them from panels written in Braille.

At Bodegas Valdemar, in addition to the above, wine aroma games are inclusive. Pictograms and diagrams describe the tapas served during the three wine tastings that take place during the tour of the winery.  Visitors can scan QR codes on the bottles tasted that give access to videos with subtitles.  The sense of touch is used throughout, including touching the grapes as they pass through the selection table during the harvest and feeling the temperature of a fermentation tank.

The key for both Villa Lucía and Bodegas Valdemar, is not only accessibility but inclusiveness.  Anyone, with or without disabilities, can visit the properties without the need to make an appointment or require special attention.